Method of repairing siphons



March 5, 1929. J. l.. mcHoLsoN METHOD 0F REPAIRIHG SPHONS Filed D06. 5

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ooomhYmoooooob/o OQNG Gv Patented Mar. 5, 1929 siren si* JOHN'L. niciioilson, or cnrciieo, inriivois, essieivon To kLocoivro'rivii Fmiinoxeoivrn g '1,704,144 ATES PATENT oFFicifl.`

PANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE,

l DIETE-ICD O REPAERING SIIEHONS.

- Appiieauml sied neemiier 5, i924. sensi No. 754,028;

This invention relates to improvements in methods of repairing siphons and consists of the matters hereinafter described andmore particularly pointed out in the appended claims. e

The term Siphon as herein used designates a flat hollow Substantially triangular Structure or element particularly adapted for use in locomotive boilers for increasing the water circulation andk steaming efficiency thereof. Such an element or thermie Siphon is fully shown and described. in my prior Pat ent No. 1,337,720 o-April Q0, i920 and said element is located in the liiebox o'lthe boiler. lt generally includes a tubular bottom portion which terminates in a tubular extension or neck connected to the inner throat sheet and has a flat hollow body with an elongated discharge mouth, which opens through the crown sheet of the firebox. Being arranged in the iir'ebox as just mentioned, said tubular neck and adjacent body parts oit the Siphon which by reason of' being located suliistantially close tothe lire bed on the grate bars, are subjected to the rimpingement or bombardment 'of the products oi: combustion as they pass from the lire bed to the boiler ilucs. This action of he products oit combustion produces a real mechanical wear upon said parts which being` assisted by the continuous expansion and contraction under temperature changes, reduces the life of this portion ot the Siphon below that oi the main body part thereof.

Because of their peculiar construction said Siphons are not only diiiicult to make, but due Y to the care with which they must be installed, they cost considerable. vI-le'retoiore Such a worn siplion presented quite a problem. The major portion thereof is still serviceable but the remaining portionl is worn to vthat degree where safety demands its repair er1 the replacement oli' the entire Siphon by a new Siphon. AThe replacing of a Siphon not only requires a greet deal ottime and labor to remove the worn Siphon, but also requires time and labor to i'e'assemble and rewcld the new one in place, thus causing a loss of service in Said locomotive. n

My present invention relates to a method of repairing such worn Siphons which method may be readily and economically carried out.

One of the ob] ects of the present invention is to provide `a Simple and eiiicient method whereby the worn portion of the siplion `may be removed and a new portion substituted tion therefor, thus restoring the Siphon to its orig! inal eiliciency at but a Small expense of time i and labor, at the Same time reducing the service delay of the locomotive to a minimum.

Other. objects of rthe invention as well as the many advantages thereorn will more fully appear I proceed with my specilicationVK In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1' isa view in Side elevat'on of alsiphon element as it appears relativeto the inner throat sheet and crown Sheet of a locomotive boiler lirebox in which it is installed. y

Fig. Qlisa View in side elevation on an eny larged scale ofthe Siphon element after hav ing been repaired by means of my' improved method.

.Fig 3 is a perspective view of my improved L halfsiphon or repair element as itappears ready fory attachment to a Siphon body, after the worn part has been removed.

f Fig. is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale astalren on the line l of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is another detail sectional view as taken on the line 5-5 of Fig.. 2. f

Referring now in detail yto that embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings z--lA indicates the crown sheet of a. locomotiveiiirebox, 2 the inner throat 'Sheet thereo'tand 3 indicates as a whole a Siphon or water steaming and circulating element, in! stalled in the iireboxl and secured in said crown sheet and front throat sheet, as will soon fappear. As `described in `my patent hereinbefore referred to, said Siphon `or elegenerally triangular, flat hollow body portion is ayclosed tube and yconstitutes the neck `or intake portion 6 lot the Siphon `or element which is in open communication with the 'liront'water leg by means of Lan'annularly corrugated diaphrain plate 7 Secured in a Suitable opeiiiii provided thereof in said throat plate.` The neck projects into the diaphragm plate and is preferably welded therein, said plate accommodating the expansion and contraction of said element undertemperature ch nges. The hollow body portion 5 comprises parallel side walls 8-8 which are spaced aparta distance less than that'approximating the diameter of the tubular or bulged portion l which graduallyv is reduced in widthas it approaches the top end of the side The lower part of the bottom por- Til `sheet metal folded upon itself with the niedian line ot' the tubular part l tras the line of the fold, the two parts of the element .inceting and being;- welded in a line deiining the middle portion ol' the front wall 10 as shown at l2. rlhe top end of the element, inside the lang-'e 9, provides a di: harge mouth which opens through the crown sheet to the discharge water and steam into the boiler space above the same. The side walls of the siphon or element are suitably sta 7-bolted to withstand both internal and external pressure and the stay-bolts 13 are so disposed as to extend in rows parallel with lines defining the outlines oli the element as a whole. The neck portion (l is also staydiolted as at 11i.

In service the lower portion and bottom end or" the body together with the neck 6 is subjected to the greatest wear for the reasons before stated. Although the siphons are vin active use for a long,` period of time before this wear is manifest, inspections from time to time will determine when Asaid element should be repaired. `When said repair is to be made, the worn part of the siphon or element is removed by cuttingthe saine away as for instance with a torch alonpthe .dotted line 15, as shown in Fig. 1 so that both side walls are of an equal height. rlhe middle or major portion of this line is arranged in a plane between the first two rows ot stay-bolts 13 adliacent the tubular portion 4, said major portion being of an undulatory formation, the reverse curves thereotI being: arcs described about the stay-bolts ol said lirst two rows as cent-ers. In this manner suiilcient metal is left about the holes oi the second row of staybo'lts which are removed to be replaced by others, as will later appear, so that said side walls are not unduly weakened. rlhe right hand end part lo ol the line 15 passes through the end wall in a plane between the second and third row ot stay-bolts parallel with said portion L while the leift hand endlo of said line passes through said portion d in a plane at a right angle thereto. In this in stance, the line oi cutting is the same on both side walls,

To take the place of that worn portion of the Siphon which has been removed as above described, I provide a renewal or repair boot or section which is substantially a duplicate ofthe removed part or the siphon except that its side walls are of aheight greater than the side wall portions of the siphon which were cut away or removed and the neck thereof is Vheio'ht which extensions are siaced anart h 7 4i.

until the tubular neck 6a is approached. In

the to i rio'ht hand corner of said extensionsl l is are provided plug holes 16 and 'following the plano of said tubular portion Ll two rows ot' stay-bolt openings 17 and 18 are provided. The neck titoli said repair element is staybolted as at les.

lVhen such a.i repair element is positioned in lace with resnect to the cut-awa y `ortion VIv of the siphon 3, the top edges of its side walls 8, will overlap the bottom cutaway side walls of the Siphon as siown in 2, the major portion of the top edge of said side walls 8 being' arranged in a plane between the second and third row oi stay-bolts extending parallel with said tubular portions l and 451, respectively. The stay-bolt openings 18 of the repair element are brought into register with the line oi' stay-bolt openings adj acentthe undulatory bottom edge of the side walls S of the sipiion and a new row of stay-bolts 18a are employed to secure the overlapping' side wall parts together-- A row of stayLbolts 17 is then inserted in the openingsjl after which the bottoni 'front ends of the side wall portions of the repair element-s are worked over toward each other to embrace the bottom end o1PA the end wall 10. Suitable holes are then drilled in said end wall in registry with the holes 1G, after which screw plugs 2() are inserted in said holes and are riveted over; the meeting edges of the portions 8"-8 beingl welded together and to said ond wall by a line of welding 21, as shown in Fig'.V 5. The edges ol the side walls of the repair section are then welded to the adjacent face portion of the side walls of the siphon as indicated at 22, which weldingl also .follows the end portions rhl" of the line of cutting;v on the siphon as indicated at 2%*229 in Fig'. 2. As shown in Fie, 4j, I prefer to oiiset the top portions of the side walls ttl-8f of the repair element outwardly with respect to thel bottoni portions so that said bottoni portions are arranged in the plane of the side walls 8 of the siphou, thus eliminatingv the necessity oi" materially increasing' the width of the repaired Siphon at this point., The neck 6a of the boot or repair elenient is then inserted in and fitted to the diaphragm plate 7 and welded thereto, whether said plate be the old or a new one.

In this manner a newu bottom end `is provided for the Siphon which siphon will be just as eicient for its intended purpose as an Said tubular portion has pa Tallel side entirely new one. By `overlapping the side walls of the repair element with respect to the body of the siphon and by the welding as betere described, a strong and rigid, pressure tight connection is secured. f

rlhe improved method may be readily carried out at but a small expense when considered in the light of the expense of substitutingl an entirely new siphon for a worn one. The method may be also readily carried out with the tools and appliances found in any locomotive repair shop so that no new equipment need be purchased to practice the same, n

lVhile in describing my invention, I have referred to certain details of construction and steps in operation and the like, I do not Wish to be limited thereto except as may be pointed out in the appended claims.

,l claim as my invention:

l. rlhe method of repairing a water steaming and circulating element of a boiler, which element has parallel side walls stay-bolted together, said method consisting in removing the worn portion o' said element from the remainder thereof, in providing a new part to take the place of the removed portion which new part has side walls, in positioning said remainder and said new part together with the side walls thereof in overlapping relation, welding said overlapped parts of said side walls together along one edge ofone ot the overlapped side wall parts, and in then stay-bolting the overlapped walls on one side of the element to the overlapped side wall parts on the other side of the element.

2. The method of repairing a water steaming and circulating element in a locomotive lireboi; which element comprises kspaced parallel stay-bolted side walls connected to the crown sheet of the irebox and a tubular neck connected to the inner throat sheet of the ireboX, which method consists in removing the worn part of said element along parallel undnlatory lines, the curves of which are formed about predetermined stay-bolts as centers, in removing-said stay-bolts, in providing a new part to take the place ofthe worn Vportion which new part has side walls with stay-bolts openings therein, in positioning saidnew part with respectto the remainder sothat the side walls of said new part will overlap the side walls of the remainder with the stay-bolt openings in registration, in arranging stay-bolts in said openings and then welding said overlapped side wall parts together yalong aline delined by the edges of one of said side wall parts.

3. The method of repairing a water steaming and circulating element of a boiler which element has parallel side walls staybolted together, said `method consistingin removing' the worn part of said element from the remainder thereof along undulatory lines, the curves of which are formed concentric to predetermined stay-bolts, in removing stay bolts, in providing a new part to talre. the place of the' worn portion which new part has side walls spaced apart greaterthan the distance of the .part removed and provided with stay-.bolt openings therein, in positioning said new part with respect to the remainder so that the side walls of said new part will embrace and overlap the side walls of the remainder with the stay-bolt openings in registration, in arranging stay-bolts in said openings and then welding said overlapped side wall parts together along a line defined by the edges of one of said side wall parts.

'In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 1st day of December, 1921i.

JOHN' L. NICHOLSON. 

